Some Things Never Change
by porcelaincountess
Summary: Although I started writing this to see how Kai's parents would interact with Cinder, I realized I was essentially telling the story of the Rampion Crew in college during the Twenty First Century, Second Era.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Some Things Never Change

 **Author:** Rose

 **Fandom:** The Lunar Chronicles

 **Pairing:** Predominantly Kai/Cinder

 **Cover image:** Shanlightyear on tumblr

 **Rating:** T

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own them.

 **Summary:** The Rampion Crew in college during the Twenty First Century, Second Era.

Kai loved his school. He enjoyed the sweeping landscapes and the towering buildings and the student body so large there was always someone new to meet. He never regretted his decision to attend university, unlike some of his peers who only saw the large classes and challenging courses. For him, it was his kingdom.

Kai grew up as the son of a senator who was very well liked and even more well respected. He had spent his life on tour with his father, waving in photos and making appearances at political dinners. He had grown up in his father's limelight but the older he got, the more Kai became aware of the attention that he was getting himself.

"Hey man," said Liam slamming his bag down next to Kai, "What's got you so bummed out?"

"It's been a really bad day. What about you?" Liam just shrugged and slumped into his seat. He was the kind of person who seemed perpetually pissed off which, paired with his hobby of training for triathlons and good genes, made him both very handsome and very standoffish. A few of the girls also seated in the classroom started stealing glances of him over their shoulders. Well, Liam and Kai. They both had a tendency to attract attention.

At that moment Cress burst through the door, distracting the ogling girls. She was so small in comparison to the massive stack of books she was saddled down with. Kai waved her over and she sat down between them.

"Sorry guys! I'm so sorry! I got caught up in lab and then as I was walking over my bag spilt and these books went everywhere!"

"It's ok, Cress, you still got here before class." Kai placed a reassuring hand on hers, which she squeezed. The three of them had first met their sophomore year in a history class several hundred people large and had grown to be close friends. Since then they always made sure to cut time for each other into their schedules. This quarter though, they had even managed to get another class together and they always got there early to chat.

"How are you Liam?" He shrugged.

"Me and Jefri broke up." Both Kai and Cress started.

"What?"

"It's ok. I could tell it was heading there for awhile." Cress leaned over and wrapped her arms around him, to which Liam simply patted her on her back.

"Are you going to miss her?" He shrugged.

"I will miss having a training buddy, though." Kai rolled his eyes.

"Of course. But not, you know, the affection or companionship or the romance," said Kai, mocking. Liam held Cress close and mouthed over her shoulder 'Or the sex'. Kai glared, shook his head and shot a glance at Cress who was completely oblivious of this exchange.

Both Kai and Liam were very fond of short little Cress with her round face and big blue eyes and kind heart. They both wanted to protect her and see her happy. Kai in particular saw Cress almost as a little sister and he had held her a number of times while she cried. Despite being two years younger than both of them she was a senior as well, mostly due to the fact that she was a genius or something. But because she was always younger than her classmates and raised by an elderly couple on the outskirts of her town, she had always been an outcast growing up. Kai was happy to be her friend and reveled in the way her eyes saw the world with wonder, but he would never discuss things like carnal desires with her.

Cress pulled herself away and smiled sympathetically at Liam.

"Well it seems we've had bad days all around today," said Kai.

"Aww, what happened to you?" She asked, turning to him.

"My car broke down on 21st and I can't get it restarted." Cress made a face and Liam sucked in a breathe.

"Ouch. That sucks man." Kai nodded.

"Yeah and my mechanic is back home, I don't know who to go to here in the city." Cress raised her hand like class had already started.

"Ooh, that I can help with. I know somebody. I have a class with a guy who works at the shop down on Union. I've heard they're really good." Liam pointed at her.

"That Linh kid? Yeah I've heard that too." Kai scrunched his nose in disbelief.

"Let a college kid fix my car? I don't know . . . "

"I've only heard good things about their service down there. Plus they give discounts to students." Kai stuffed his hands in his pockets as the teacher down at the front of the room pulled the class to attention. Cress however, leaned closer to him and spoke in a whisper.

"Just go down there and chat with them. If you still feel iffy about it then you don't have to go there, but you should at least check it out." Kai gave her an undecided shrug and turned towards the lesson.


	2. Chapter 2

Kai found himself in front of the mechanic shop that Cress had talked about later that day. He had decided it wouldn't hurt to poke around and get an estimate.

A bell rang as he pushed open the door into the waiting area. A girl with dyed blue hair was sitting at the counter blowing bubblegum and reading a fashion magazine. She didn't look up until Kai stood right in front of her and then her eyes went big and the chewing stopped.

"I'm sorry but I'm looking for the mechanic Linh?" The girl just stared at him for a moment before getting out of the chair and opening the door into the workshop.

"Cin-der! There's a hot guy here for you!" Kai felt his ears grow warm, but decided to ignore the comment. He heard shuffling and a metal clunk and then a shout.

"I told you, asshole, to text me before you drove up here again! A fair warning would have been nice..." The words died on her lips as the voice came through the doors and spotted Kai. Whatever he had been expecting, she wasn't it.

The mechanic, which he had unconsciously assumed to be a buff jock, was a cute girl with her hair messily tied back into a ponytail and dirty work gloves. She looked a little bit younger than Kai, and with significantly less polish. But he had seen enough polish in his young life. This grease stained girl instead looked like she had never wasted thoughts on her hair or her clothes or her figure. It was rather endearing.

"You aren't Thorne," she said bluntly, settling her hands on the thin strip of flesh between the bottom of her tank top and the cargo pants that hung off her hips.

"No I'm not. My name is Kai Huángdì." The girl pulled off her gloves and shoved them in her back pocket.

"I'm Cinder Linh. Nice to meet you." They shook hands and Kai noticed that her hands were calloused and marred by years of hard work. He had never felt hands like that before and his fingers automatically lingered against her skin.

"I'm Iko," said the girl from the desk. "And you're gorgeous." Kai forced a laugh to disguise his discomfort.

"Here, let's chat outside so she can't harass you." Cinder went to the front door and opened it for him. She sat down on the curb of the street and took a water bottle out of one of her bulging pockets.

"How can I help you?" Kai sat down carefully next to her.

"My car broke down on 21st and Commerce. I couldn't get it to restart." Cinder nodded understandingly.

"What model?"

"An Audi Coupe." Cinders eyes went wide.

"I knew you were from money but really?"

"Hey I'm not - wait 'you knew'? Have we met before?" Kai didn't think he would have forgotten this girl.

She just shook her head. "But I still know who you are. Practically every person on our fifty thousand student campus knows who you are." Kai's ears went red - he knew he was a good humored, extroverted, easy to like kind of guy. But he had never really thought of himself as popular, much less that the entire school would know who he was. He wasn't sure if he liked the idea either.

"I hope the reputation that precedes me isn't too negative." Cinder shrugged.

"But it is surprising to see someone like you in a dumpy old shop like this."

"A friend said you come highly recommended."

"Gotta pay for school somehow." Kai pressed his lips, deciding not to mention that his parents had completely covered his tuition. The two simply sat for a moment watching the cars buzz past them. "I can take a look at it." Kai was momentarily confused before he realized she was talking about his car.

"Oh, yeah. That'd be great."

"Just get a tow truck to bring it by tomorrow morning." Kai nodded.

"How long do you think it'll take? I was planning on driving home for fall break."

"I should be able to have it done by then, but without examining it first hand that might be just wishful thinking." Cinder stood up, brushed herself off and adjusted her ponytail. "I've gotta get back to work now." She nodded to him, still on the ground and turned and went back into the building.

Kai simply sat there for a moment, running his encounter with the mechanic over and over again in his head.


	3. Chapter 3

"Why didn't you guys tell me Cinder Linh is a girl?" Kai fumed at dinner on Saturday. Liam, refusing to use chopsticks even at a Vietnamese restaurant, let his fork hang mid air.

"I don't see why that matters, man."

"Because it made me feel like an idiot!" he ranted.

Cress swallowed her mouthful of pho before responding. "Why would not knowing she's a girl make you feel like an idiot?"

"Because she's hot," stated Liam before Kai could even open his mouth.

"What- I never said- I mean she is cute- but I never said..." Liam smiled knowingly at Kai before dipping his fork back into his soup. Cress clapped her hands together.

"You like Cinder? Oh that's so sweet!"

"Hey wait a second- I never said-!"

"You two would have the most adorable babies together!" Cress exclaimed, a starry look in her eyes. Liam laughed.

"WHOA! No one said anything about babies."

"Not yet anyway," said Liam with a smug smile.

"Ooooooh!" Cress squealed, totally lost in her own romantic fantasies. "I SHIP IT!"

"Cress calm down will ya! Nothing is going on between Cinder and me! We barely even know each other!" Cress turned to him and gave him an appraising look.

"Well then. I guess you don't need to know anything about her, do you?" Kai furrowed his brow.

"Excuse me?"

"Well if you aren't interested in her than there is no point in me telling you every little detail I know about her." The table fell silent for a moment, Kai caught between his adamance that he didn't have feelings for Cinder and the fact that he wanted to know more about her. Really. Badly. Liam smirked.

"...I would really like to know more about her. Please." Cress flashed him a patient smile and folded her hands in her lap. Kai sighed. "Ok ok. I think she's pretty cute." Cress blinked at him. "The way she ties back her hair is kinda sexy?"

"Getting warmer." Kai huffed, but then he remembered something.

"She has these beautiful dark brown eyes that just-" Cress drowned him out with a squeal so loud that the other customers shot her dirty looks. Liam glared them down.

"I knew it! I knew you liked her!" Kai sighed and pretended like his ears weren't burning, saving his argument until after she spilled the beans.

"Just get on with it already." Cress started.

"Yes! Operation Kaider: commence!" Kai rolled his eyes and started working on his own bowl of pho while she began her diatribe.

"Cinder Linh is Asian American mechanical engineering major at our university. I'm not sure what her grades look like but she is always talked about as one of the prodigies of the department, and she's only a sophomore. My age actually, although the I think she's a little bit older. Apparently she came out of nowhere, no one had heard of her within recruiting or normal paths of finding engineering students. She just emailed the head of the department one day and told them what she could do and bam! They made sure she went here. I think she comes from one of the neighboring towns in the area but I'm not sure. I do know, though, she's not on great terms with her adoptive family and-"

"Wait," Kai interrupted her monologue, "Cinder is adopted?"

"Well, yeah. I don't think she knows who her biological family is. She's very quiet about her past. She's very quiet about herself in general actually."

"Then how do you know all this stuff?" Liam asked with suspicion. Surprisingly Cress' cheeks turned pink.

"Well, I mean, Cinder is just... I think she's really cool. She is always in old ratty clothes but she has this confidence, like it doesn't matter what she's wearing. She says things like they are and she's always really funny. And every time we end up in a class together she sounds so smart. I just think she's cool." A silence passed between the table.

"So pretty much you have a massive girl crush on her but are too scared to ask her to be your friend," said Liam.

"Well . . . "

"Geez! Both of you saps are head over heels about this girl! Next thing you know _I'll_ be waiting on her hand and foot." Liam grumbled.

"I do not have a thing for Cinder!"

"Yeah! Me-me too!"

"You two are so easy to see through," Liam paused to take another bite. "Kai, why don't you just invite her for our next Saturday dinner? That way you could both fawn over her at the same time and just get it over with."

He opened his mouth to argue but stopped, considering. Though it was spoken condescendingly, like most of the things Liam Kinney ever said, it was actually a smart way to pull her into their friend group. "That's not a bad idea." Liam snorted. Kai and Cress exchanged glances.

"It would be nice to see her outside of classes," Cress murmured.

"Just ask her the next time you are at shop."

"But I don't know her shifts, should I just walk in and hope she's there?" Kai sighed, wishing he had chatted with her a bit more when he'd had the chance.

"Monday and Wednesday after 3:30, Friday starting at noon and all of Saturday." Both Liam and Kai stared at Cress who felt her face start to burn with embarrassment. "So... have any big plans for next week?"


	4. Chapter 4

Monday afternoon, Kai pushed open the door to what he had come to think of as Cinders shop. As the chime sounded he noticed that this time the front desk was empty and the door to the back of the shop was left open.

"Back here!" Kai recognized Cinder's voice. He only hesitated for an instant before walking into the shop.

He had taken his car to a mechanic before, of course, but he had never been inside the actual garage. He felt dumb as he realized that he knew none of the tools scattered around or any of the small labels that precisely named each bin. His eyes widened as he took it all in; there were three cars parked in the shop and he recognized one of them as his own.

"Hello?"

"Kai?" her voice was muffled. "I'm under your car." He made his way over to her and this time he noticed the pair of feet sticking out from beneath the driver's door. "Would you mind passing my the three quarter inch wrench in the toolbox?" Kai peered down at the smattering of tools laying at her feet.

"Umm..." Cinder rolled out from the car with a smirk on her lips and a mischievous light in her eye.

"You have no clue which one is the three quarter inch wrench, do you?" Kai shook his head. She sat up on the rolling cart and pulled out a singular tool from the pile, giving him a little wave with it.

"Changing the topic away from my ineptitude, how is my car looking?" He knelt down and sat crisscrossed on the floor next to her.

"Well it's giving me a bit more trouble than I thought it would, but I think I know what to do now."

"And that is?" Cinder peered at him with a questioning look.

"If I told you would you actually understand?" Kai opened his mouth, then shut it again. Cinder gave him another one of those adorable smirks and then laid back down on the creeper and rolled beneath the car again.

"Hey there was another thing I wanted to ask you, too." Cinder's grunt was muffled by the large mass of metal on top of her. "Would you like to go to dinner next Saturday?"

"Wha-" Kai heard a sharp smack as, he assumed, she hit her head when she tried to sit up. She rolled back out from the car and he did not miss either the baffled expression or the large red mark on her forehead.

"Oh no! I mean, not like on a date or anything! My friends, Liam Kinney and Cress Darnel - I think you know her - we were talking and you came up and we got to wondering, all of us, if you would want to join us for one of our weekly Saturday dinners? Like this _next_ Saturday." Kai was normally incredibly eloquent, of course his brain would choose this moment to shut off and make him sound stupid. She rubbed a gloved hand against the red mark on her forehead.

"Cress? The hacker?"

"I thought she did computer science."

"Yeah, that pretty much is computer science. The way to study computer security is by learning how hackers get in. And she kills at it." Kai shrugged.

"You would know more than me."

"And isn't Kinney that triathlete asshole?"

"Well yeah," he said.

"And you. Kai." He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Now that I'm listening to you say it like that my offer doesn't sound very appealing." Cinder waited for a breath of silence.

"I'd love to grab dinner with you." There was a moment while those words hung in the air when he felt like sighing. "Where should I meet you guys? Wait, here let me give you my number."

As she bent over to dig out an ancient Motorola razor, Kai couldn't stop the smile that split across his face.


	5. Chapter 5

Cress, of course, got to the next Saturday dinner twenty minutes early. Cinder was practically all she had talked about the whole week. By the time Liam arrived she was almost bouncing off her cushion. Kai was already there too, not that Liam was surprised.

"You two are going to scare this girl away if you both keep smiling like that," he said, sliding into the booth.

"Cinder is going to be here any minute now, she just texted me." Cress looked longingly at his phone.

"I wish I had her number, you guys talk all the time!" Kai slipped his smart phone into his pocket.

"No we don't - she has a limit to the number of texts she can send each month. And plus, she's really sweet, if you asked for her number she'd probably give it to you," he said flipping open the menu. It took him a very long second to realize that Cress was grinning at him devilishly.

"You called her sweet." Kai rolled his eyes.

"How many times do I have to tell you, it's not like that. I just think she is really cool, _that is all_. Nothing has happened or will happen." Kai ignored Liam's pointed snort. It was two more minutes before Cinder walked through the door, spotted them and sank down in the seat next to Liam.

"Hey," her voice was low and she seemed a little reserved as her gaze shot around the table.

"Cinder, this is Liam and Cress," Kai gestured to both of them as he introduced them politely. Liam nodded and Cress smiled nervously although her eyes were warm.

"You look really good tonight! I've never seen you out of work clothes," Cress said. Cinder looked down slightly embarrassed.

"My best friend, Iko, found out about this and insisted I 'dress up'. She thinks I don't get out enough. Luckily I was able to talk her down from her more extravagant choices." She was wearing light blue slim jeans with only a few dark grease stains and a thick bulky sweater that was several sizes too big. It suited her.

"You do work a lot. And you have to get school work done too. You probably don't have a lot of spare time."

"That's what I said, but when Iko gets an idea in her head…" she turned to Kai. "He knows - he met her."

"When?" asked Kai, baffled.

"The first time you came in? Bright blue hair?"

"That's your best friend?" Kai tried to think of anything the two of them might have in common but they looked like exact opposites.

"Yeah, she can be a bit much, but she means well." Cinder had a slight smile on her face as she spoke of Iko. It made Kai smile too.

"How long have you know each other?"

"For about a decade now, most of my life it seems."

"You should invite her out," Cress interjected, "I want to meet her!"

"She would probably love to, but she works dinner and evenings."

"What does she do?"

"She's a live in maid for a elderly couple that is ridiculously rich here in the city."

"Woah, that probably pays well."

"Not as well as you'd think, but she gets free room and board and that was a huge part of why she was able to come live here."

"Are you from the same hometown?" Cress asked. Cinder nodded.

"Stop grilling the girl and let her look at the menu," Liam mumbled. Cinder turned to look at him for a long minute.

"Oh don't mind him," said Cress, "He might be a bit abrasive but Liam is actually a really good guy." Liam glanced up to meet Cinders evaluative stare.

"I have no intentions of proving myself to you." There was a brief moment and then Cinder smiled at him and turned to Kai.

"I like him." Liam grunted. Their waiter, who had been impatiently waiting for their whole party to arrive, swooped down on them and rushed their orders away.

"So how did you guys get to be so close?" asked Cinder, trying to pick up the conversation. Cress was eager to give her the full story.

"We met freshman year because we all had this one class together and we ended up working on a project together. It was pretty obvious from the beginning that we made a good team."

"It helped that all of the rest of the people in that class were glaringly stupid," added Liam. Cress frowned at him.

"I don't think they were stupid. I just think they were more interested in their extracurricular activities freshman year then schoolwork."

"It was an eight am class three times a week. On Mondays, half the class wouldn't even show up."

"Anyways," interrupted Cress, "we bonded over our mutual intelligence and dedication to our studies. After that class, we would never see each other, so we started having dinner every Saturday. This semester we were able to schedule one of our gen eds together, but we still like this tradition."

"Ahh," by this time their food had arrived and Cinder blew on her pad thai before shoving it into her mouth. "What's your guys' majors anyways?"

"Well Cress is studying computer science, but you already know that. Liam is a history major and spends the rest of his time in the gym. And I am a business and international affairs double major with a history minor." Kai leaned across the table with a teasing grin. "The second major is just for fun."

"And in other news," said Liam, "Kai's a masochist. But what else do you do besides, you know, mechanics." Cinder shrugged.

"Sleep? I go from the shop at school to the shop at work. It's kinda what I do."

"But you hang out with Iko," Cress reminded her.

"She comes to my work so we can see each other."

"Don't you have any time to yourself?" Liam asked with some disbelief. Cinder deliberated.

"Right now?"

"Dude. That sucks."

"Do you at least have any plans to get away for fall break next week?" Kai asked.

"Not really, do you?"

"Well, yeah. Cress is going back to her parents house, Liam is going on a road trip and I'm driving back home. And you? Are you just going to stay here and work?" Cinder shrugged.

"What else would I do?" she seemed genuinely curious and they all turned to look at Kai.

"Come home with me." He heard himself say the words more than he really processed thinking them. "I mean, if you want to come back with me, my parents love having guests and we have tons of space. There is always a lot of food at our house this time of year and it would be nice to have a friend over, we could kill time together."

Cress and Cinder's jaws seemed to drop in an almost synchronized motion.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I would have to check with my parents, but the invitation is open." Cress groaned dramatically and let her head fall on the table next to her plate.

"I should have thought of that," she grumbled, "Now Kai gets Cinder for a whole week!" To their surprise, Cinder started laughing. Really hard.

"First you guys get me out of the shop and now you are offering me vacations and free food? Man, you guys are awesome!" They all joined in, even Cress who picked herself up from the table to share in the smiles.

"We like you," said Cress. "...Specifically - hey!" Kai discreetly pinched her underneath the table.

"I like you guys too," Cinder threw the last bit of her food into her mouth. "Also, why don't you just ask Kai if you could come over someday during break?" Cress' whole face lit up, and then she slowly turned to him, knitting her fingers together, pouting her lower lip and making her eyes perfectly round. Kai groaned.

"The puppy dog eyes? You know you get your way with the puppy dog eyes, Cress."

"Then... can I come over?" He sighed.

"Why not." She squealed and reached across the table to grab Cinder's hand.

"We are going to be good friends." Her words were partially statement, partially prediction.

The rest of the night was spent fast in discussion about classes and school drama, of which Cress seemed to have an endless knowledge. Before long the four were separating, promising to keep in touch during the break and heading back home.

Kai was soon back at his apartment and while he lay in bed he ran the night back through his head. It had only taken a minute on the phone with his mother to okay having a friend over for break. He had left out that his friend was a girl because he was a little worried his mom, like everyone else it seemed, would draw conclusions about their relationship.

He didn't understand why Cress and Liam thought that he and Cinder were a thing. They weren't, they definitely were not. _But did he want them to be?_ Kai stilled as that thought dawned on his consciousness. He enjoyed her company sure, and he looked forward to spending a whole week in her company. And, ok, maybe whenever they started texting he would check his phone more times than usual to see if she had responded yet. But that didn't mean anything.

Alright she was pretty too, he couldn't deny that. Her beauty wasn't the kind that would stop people in the street, but it was there when you bothered to look. Kai jolted as he realized how much of their time together he had spent looking. He pulled in a deep breath and for just a moment let his imagination wander the way it only could in the safety of the dark.

Kai fantasized about what it would be like to kiss Cinder. To just lean forward a few inches and press his lips against hers. To let his arms wrap around her waist, tugging her close so he could feel the lines of her body that she always kept hidden. To be able to feel the warmth of her skin as he -

Chastising himself for thinking that way about a friend, he quickly yanked himself out of that line of thought. Cinder was a friend. She was kind and funny and did not deserve to be thought about that way. A friend. He needed to pull himself together. That kind of thing would never happen. But the knot that had started in the pit of his stomach refused to loosen.

Kai let out a resigned sigh and rolled onto his back, realizing it would take him longer than planned to get to sleep.


End file.
